Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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50. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will report on his recent statement on the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund. [50451/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The €2 billion Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) was launched as part of Project Ireland 2040, to support the compact growth and sustainable development of Ireland’s five cities, regional drivers and other large urban centres.

A total of 189 applications were submitted to my Department under the first call for proposals. All submissions were assessed following a three stage process and against a 10 point pre-assigned assessment criteria framework. An initial appraisal process on all submissions was carried out within my Department, with preliminary recommendations being made to a Project Advisory Board (PAB) who provided high-level input and advice as applicable per category or proposal. Following this process, preliminary proposals were presented to a management committee who brought the final recommendations to me for consideration.

On 26 November 2018, I announced details of the 88 successful applicants for funding, details of which are published on my Department's website. This included two types of project: Category A - projects that are 'ready to go' and Category B - projects which are at an earlier stage (Master-planning/Feasibility) and which will assist in forming a future pipeline of projects, as the URDF is a rolling fund, with €2 billion available to 2027.

Successful bid proposals have been approved in principle, subject to final agreement of technical details with my Department, and the funding allocations should be regarded as an initial investment of support for the projects. My Department will be meeting with successful applicants, as necessary, over the coming weeks to discuss the detailed progression of proposals on foot of which contract agreements and associated documentation will be finalised.

It became apparent during the assessment process that there was a further category of Project, described as ‘Category C’, which comprised projects that could not be funded as part of the initial call, but are likely to have strong potential as part of future calls, subject to further development and, in some cases, refinement. My Department is providing feedback to the proposers of these projects also.

It is expected that a second call for proposals under the Fund will be launched later in the first quarter of this year.